Man Wrongly 'Outed' After Trip To Best Buy

A Green Valley Ranch man went to Best Buy to exchange a cellphone and left feeling outraged after he said an employee wrongly outed him on Facebook.

"Its totally not a joke, said Rich Dewberry. I feel like Ive been humiliated.

Dewberrys trouble began last April when he went to an Aurora Best Buy to get his cellphone fixed. When a technician couldnt fix the phone, Dewberry was given a new device.

He left the store just before closing. Not even 30 minutes later, a posting from his old Android phone appeared on his Facebook account. The status message read I am gay. Im coming out. Dewberry didnt write the posting, nor is he gay.

Dewberry said he accidentally left his Facebook and other accounts logged in on his old phone. When the message was posted his new phone hadnt even been activated.

Calls started coming in immediately to my house phone, Dewberry told 7NEWS Reporter Don Champion. Friends, ex-spouses, they were all calling.

Dewberry said the 9:19 p.m. time stamp from the message told him it was a Best Buy employee who made the posting. The next day he called the store and filed a complaint with a manager. Days later Dewberry said he was told the employee involved was fired.

It just put a bad taste in my mouth, Dewberry said. My reputation has been tarnished and theyre responsible for it.

Best Buy wouldnt confirm to 7NEWS that the employee was fired. The company did send a statement, reading in part:

Each year, every employee of Best Buy is asked to review and sign our Code of Ethics, which includes details on how they are expected to handle customer information.

Dewberry said that policy was violated in his case. Not only does he feel like his privacy was invaded but hes also tired of having to explain to people that hes not gay.

Just having to explain it to certain people I come in contact with, I feel like I shouldnt have to do that, he said.

Experts recommend anytime you do a phone exchange that you do a hard reset of the device to erase the memory. The option can often be found in your settings menu.

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